Our family and the Carey’s with our Global Outreach (Missions) Pastor and his wife, Jonathan & Janie, as they depart after spending one week with us in Papua New Guinea. A fantastic time of breaking bread (meals), travel (adventure), storying (conversation) and encouraging and leaning into one another (edifying).

Ever wondered or thought “What does a Store have to do with translating the Bible?”

Well, you first must know what all of us (Aviation, Clinic, School, IT, Print Shop, Training Center, Language Resources, Construction, Auto-Shop, etc.) do here collectively, and that is essentially:

“Tosee Papua New Guinea empowered by the Written Word and, as a result, seeing Papua New Guineans knowing and living God’s Word, leading to changed lives and transformed communities.”

That said, here is our Storepurpose in a nutshell:

“The Store exists to further the work of Bible translation in Papua New Guinea by providing members with the necessary supplies to live and work during their time in Ukarumpa or remotely in a village–and to do so with as little interruption as possible.”

From the Store and Shipping Departments to you and yours–MerryChristmas & Happy New Year!

With a new year I (tOdd) find I’m always drawn to recollect and to dream. It’s natural to do so, I suppose.

In recalling the past I think of where I’ve been and what God has brought me through and, in-turn, I long to see what He will do as I am invited into the moments, days, weeks, months and years ahead. None promised and certainly not guaranteed, but available to view with as much hope as one is able–or allows themselves to hold.

In 2012, our first year in Papua New Guinea (PNG), during one of my first few trips to the coastal port town of Lae (often done in one day, 6-hours of total drive-time; there and back), I found myself riding along as my Assistant Manager, Nathan, drove us down to pick up supplies for the Store as well as place orders for future pick-up and delivery. Nathan’s ‘as ples’ (his home/place) is the province, Morobe (more-o-bay), where Lae is located.

During this time I was learning (trying to anyway) Tok Pisin, the pidgin/trade-language of much of PNG. One such phrase Nathan taught me, as I asked him the classic “how would you say __” questions, was how to say “You and I are going to Lae”, or Morobe. As I played with the words and phrasing I began changing and altering and adding words. One such phrase that came up and that I began to “sing” (not to be confused with something that sounds good) was:

“Yumi olgeta go long Morobe“.

Basically, “We’re all going to Morobe” (Lae, specifically, in this case). We were having fun laughing and ‘storying’ together while we passed the time during a rather tedious and not-so-comfortable drive (think of a road with LOTS of potholes). Lots.

So…with plenty of time on our hands as we drove I pulled out my smart phone and used an app that allowed me to quickly record using a rather idiot-proof music-laced template (albeit a highly repetitive one).

The result? I’m glad you asked. Smile. (Oh, and the video is as low-budget as the song, haha).

Its purpose is to give you, the viewer, more insight into the ‘what’ as to where God has placed us over the past nearly three years. There are many roles at play in ridding our world of a reality devoid of God’s Word (#endbiblelessness #eradicatingbiblepoverty).

Ours? Store Manager and Teacher/Learning Specialist.

Like I said, many roles.🙂

Have you ever considered what part youmight play if given the opportunity to serve overseas?

If you’re wondering what roles are currently needed, find out here. Who knows, maybe your role is there.

Jesus, the greatest Bridge…

*video fun fact #1: the first 24 seconds of the video are shots of our hometown of Portland, Oregon (USA), which is oft referred to as “Bridge City” (and for good reason).
*video fun fact #2: check out what lands on tOdd’s right shoulder near the end of the video (3:55)?
*video fun fact #3: at the 2:18-2:23 portion of the video the first bridge picture to come up and land on the lower right of the screen is the bridge closest to our Center that actually collapsed this past August–AFTER we had created the video. A new one has already been constructed–thank You, Lord!
*video NEED fact #1: WE NEED TEACHERS (2:38-3:19)
*video NEED fact #2: WE NEED CHILDREN’S HOME PARENTS (3:20-3:28)!!!